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Enterprise Connectors for Vocollect Voice · solution with pre-built, best-in class optimized...
Transcript of Enterprise Connectors for Vocollect Voice · solution with pre-built, best-in class optimized...
Enterprise Connectors for Vocollect Voice®
Learning About the Data Integration Implementation Options for Vocollect Voice
June 2012
A Vocollect White Paper
Enterprise Connectors for Vocollect VoiceA Vocollect White Paper
©2012, Intermec IP Corp. All rights reserved. | www.vocollect.com
Table of Contents
Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Understanding What Prevents More Companies From Adopting Voice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
The Vocollect Voice Solution Data Process Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
The Spectrum of Vocollect Enterprise Connectors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Understanding Vocollect Enterprise Connector Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Enterprise Connectors for Vocollect VoiceA Vocollect White Paper
©2012, Intermec IP Corp. All rights reserved. | www.vocollect.com
Vocollect and its business partners have an unparalleled track record of successfully implementing
Vocollect Voice Solutions in distribution center and warehouse environments. In fact, Vocollect Voice has
been successfully implemented at more locations than all of Vocollect’s competitors combined. Vocollect’s
success starts with having an extensive understanding of the needs of the challenging warehouse
environment and knowing that ultimately, it’s the worker’s ability to achieve performance gains that will
determine a company’s true level of success.
One key learning over the years is that, while each facility has common traits, every location has certain
unique processes and workflows that need to be accounted for as part of the total plan. Vocollect’s high
success levels in implementing Vocollect Voice would not be possible unless the voice solution provided
had the flexibility to meet your operational requirements and be successfully integrated with your existing
technical environment.
Vocollect and its business partners offer you the industry’s broadest and most flexible integration options
with a number of Enterprise Connectors. Each of these Enterprise Connectors has been developed to
meet differing IT infrastructure requirements and you can even mix various enterprise connectors to
provide an optimized hybrid environment. You will find this extremely valuable as you implement Vocollect
Voice across various workflows, especially if your warehouse management system (WMS) has certain
data limitations. Vocollect’s ability to provide you with this rich set of technical implementation options
helps you develop a stronger business case for leveraging Vocollect Voice throughout your distribution
operations.
This white paper will discuss some of the key obstacles that Peerless Research, a leading provider of
supply chain research studies, identified as obstacles to implementing voice technology. It also will provide
a deeper understanding of the technical advantages and special considerations for each of the Vocollect
Enterprise Connector options.
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Executive Summary
Distribution center and warehouse material-handling management approaches are evolving. The fundamental shift from early paper-based systems to handheld computer devices and now to voice-enabled mobile computing appliances is helping thought-leading managers to squeeze ever-greater workflow performance results.
Voice technology has become a catalyst in the reengineering of warehouse processes and systems to deliver next generation business results. Voice has become a standard technology choice and enabler of operational excellence. From a business perspective, voice is attractive because the voice investment typically has a payback in less than nine months and the employees enjoy the voice experience. Voice communication is a “Hands-Free, Eyes-Free®” solution that offers greater safety due to increased worker focus on the business environment.
Understanding What Prevents More Companies from Adopting Voice
Enterprise Connectors for Vocollect VoiceA Vocollect White Paper
©2012, Intermec IP Corp. All rights reserved. | www.vocollect.com
Vocollect Voice can even coexist with RF Scanning (when required) and it also excels in noisy environments.
The ability to obtain expected performance gains with voice can only occur when existing processes are optimized and reengineered for maximum efficiency. Projects that do fail all have one common trait – poor workflow processes where voice is added perform just as poorly with voice. This is the key reason why so many competitive voice installations are never rolled out beyond their initial site; but Vocollect Voice implementations leverage best practice processes as a starting point.
While thousands of organizations successfully are using voice technology, Peerless Research recently undertook research about the voice market space and asked some interesting questions which have helped to clarify many core reasons for not adopting voice technology. One of the questions asked was, “What did you experience/do you envision as barriers to adopting voice technology?”
The study respondents were quite clear in that having to lean on IT resources to make changes to the existing WMS/ERP infrastructure was their number one issue. Upon further probing, Peerless Research confirmed that the lack of access to internal IT resources needed to support such a project was also a great limitation to widespread voice adoption.
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Source: Peerless Research- May 2012
What did you experience/do you envision as barriers to adoptingvoice technology?
44% Requires changes to our IT infrastructure
Cost
Difficulty integrating with our WMS platform
Have other, more important issues we are dealing with
We use another technology that we’re happy with
Requires other departments to get involved
Lack of management buy-in/approval
Don’t know enough about it
Training time or learning curve is too long
It’s new and we are not early adopters of technology
Technology does not fit with our operations
Too time-consuming to implement
None
37%
23%
22%
14%
11%
10%
9%
9%
8%
8%
6%
15%
Lack of available IT resources 70%Too costly 32%Change will cause problems 23%Time consuming 18%Lack of internal knowledge 16%Problems upgrading wireless network 14%
Lack of available IT resources 70%Lack of WMS knowledge 26%Time consuming 26%Change will cause problems 26%
Enterprise Connectors for Vocollect VoiceA Vocollect White Paper
©2012, Intermec IP Corp. All rights reserved. | www.vocollect.com
This finding is consistent with the interaction that Vocollect and its partners have witnessed first-hand from many years of helping companies to reengineer processes and in offering innovative workflow improvements. This knowledge helps challenge Vocollect to design solutions that minimize technical and resource barriers.
The Vocollect VoiceExpress™ Enterprise Connector was specifically designed and developed to address the issues that many distribution leaders have shared about their lack of desire to make changes to an existing WMS or ERP platform in order to implement Vocollect Voice. VoiceExpress has been designed and developed to not require extensive internal IT resource time commitments.
In addition, the Peerless Research study results clarified why the VoiceExpress Enterprise Connector option has such a high-level of attraction for so many companies. When Peerless posed the question, “Thinking about the way you evaluate technologies for picking/selection, which of the following priorities are most important in evaluating vendors?", ease of WMS integration was the number one limiting factor. This clearly indicates the importance of simplifying the integration effort with the WMS, as well as minimizing involvement from internal IT resources.
3
Source: Peerless Research- May 2012
Thinking about the way you evaluate technologies for picking/selection,which of the following priorities are most important in evaluating vendors?
63%Ease of WMS integration
60%Ability to maximize productivity gains
51%Cost to customize the solution
44%Ability to reduce errors
41%Long-term maintenance cost
41%Ease of expanding/scaling into other partsof my operation in the future
38%Time to implement
31% Expertise of integration partner/consultant
29%Reputation of the vendor
26%Down time required during implementation
20%Availability of training
15%Expertise and trustworthiness of the sales team
12%Recommendation from my WMS provider
12%Ease of pilot
12%Recommendation from a colleague
or company in my industry
Enterprise Connectors for Vocollect VoiceA Vocollect White Paper
©2012, Intermec IP Corp. All rights reserved. | www.vocollect.com4
The Vocollect Voice Solution Data Process FlowVocollect Voice seamlessly integrates data from your host WMS or ERP system. Your enterprise integration options range from using our Vocollect VoiceExpress Enterprise Connector for fast implementations that eliminate the need to make changes to your WMS, requiring minimal IT support; our VoiceLink® Enterprise Connector option that provides an open and flexible integration solution with pre-built, best-in class optimized workflow processes; to our VoiceInterface Objects® and VoiceDirect® Enterprise Connectors that enable your WMS partners to quickly integrate Vocollect Voice Solutions with their various data systems.
Each Vocollect Enterprise Connector enables seamless integration with our market-leading voice software, VoiceCatalyst®. Each of them enable voice software and voice device management with our industry-leading VoiceConsole® Management solution. No matter the integration option you select, your Vocollect Voice Solution will provide your business with the flexibility to support your needs today and be able to support your future best practice business needs. The graphic below portrays visually how all of this comes together:
WMS/ERP/Legacy
VoiceConsole Management
Voice-Enabled Worker
EnterpriseConnectors
VocollectVoiceCatalyst
Enterprise Connector Options:
• Vocollect VoiceExpress™• Vocollect VoiceLink®
• Vocollect VoiceInterface Objects®
• Vocollect VoiceDirect®
• Vocollect VoiceDirect® ERP for SAP®
“Ready”
“2-8-7”
“2”
“Aisle 25”
“414”
“Pick 2”
“417”
Voice Application for Workflow
Task
ReceivingPut-AwayPut-to-StorePicking
Line-LoadingReplenishmentBack-StockingCycle-Counting
TransfersPackingShippingAuditing
Examples of Voice-Enabled Workflows:
Vocollect Data Process Flow
Enterprise Connectors for Vocollect VoiceA Vocollect White Paper
©2012, Intermec IP Corp. All rights reserved. | www.vocollect.com
Today’s IT landscape is changing too quickly to embrace the previous generation’s closed and inflexible technology offerings. No matter what WMS or ERP solution you are using, or if you are running a home-grown IBM iSeries (AS/400-based) solution, Vocollect Voice will seamlessly integrate with your data.
To enable the vital connection between your technology and Vocollect Voice Solutions, we offer five main enterprise connector options: VoiceExpress, VoiceLink, VoiceInterface Objects, VoiceDirect and VoiceDirect ERP for SAP. Vocollect also offers you the opportunity to create a “hybrid” environment by combining multiple approaches across different workflows or different sites in your enterprise to support your unique needs.
5
The Spectrum of Vocollect Enterprise Connectors
Warehouse Management System (WMS)/Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System
VocollectVoiceInterface
Objects®
Direct Interface
VoiceLink or Partner Task
VoiceLink or Partner Application
Middleware
VoiceDirect or Partner Task
VoiceInterfaceObjects
VoiceExpress
Business Logic /Back-end Workflow
CustomerSpecific
Voice App
APPLIC
ATIO
NIN
FR
AS
TR
UC
TU
RE
VoiceClient
VoiceCatalyst
Process Logic /Operator Dialogue
“InstructionSet”
WMS DevelopedProcess Logic
VIO API
Vocollect Talkman Vocollect Voice MP
Device
Enterprise Connectors for Vocollect VoiceA Vocollect White Paper
©2012, Intermec IP Corp. All rights reserved. | www.vocollect.com 6
These proven enterprise connectors offer different implementation approaches, out-of-the-box functionality, WMS vendor support, along with powerful features that span all five options:
Understanding Vocollect Enterprise Connector Options
Enterprise Connector Option Summary
Consider Option if Many of These Statement are True
Issues to Be Aware of with this Enterprise Integration Option
VoiceExpress • When IT resource
constraints/barriers exist • No interest in making changes
to WMS/ERP • Fast installation of various
workflows with a limited number of workers
• IT resources are very constrained
• Number of workers per workflow is small
• Limited process re-engineering needed
• Good RF coverage in place
• WMS/ERP doesn’t support Telnet for the workflows you want to voice-enable
• VoiceExpress supports the following Telnet protocol: VT220, IBM 5250 or IBM 3270 workstation emulation
• An existing RF process is a requirement for VoiceExpress
• WMS/RF screens could change frequently
• WMS/RF screens are different across sites
• WMS does not provide performance reporting
• Processes don’t use batch-picking but could benefit from it
• An additional middleware solution isn’t desirable
VoiceLink • Streamlined integration with
WMS, with some IT resources required
• Leverage best practice optimized workflow/tasks
• Current RF process doesn’t use batch- picking but could benefit from it
• Unmet labor-tracking needs • Significant process re-
engineering may be required for the greatest level of productivity and overall accuracy gains
• WMS/host appears to be very slow
• RF coverage is spotty in places
• Customer needs a real-time interface
• Customer doesn’t want a middleware/ single point of failure solution
• Workers are interleaved (unsupported)
• IT resources are very constrained to support workflow process change enhancements
VoiceInterface Objects • For the WMS that needs a
single development environment and code stream for process management
• For other software solutions where process logic is not located on a device, but in host or middleware
• The WMS doesn’t want to use another development environment (VoiceArtisan™ and Voice)
• The WMS supports interleaving
• The WMS has interest in committing resources to project
• Middleware/ single point of failure solution not wanted
• WMS provider has constrained resources
• WMS resources are too busy to engage in learning VoiceDirect Enterprise Connector protocol
Enterprise Connectors for Vocollect VoiceA Vocollect White Paper
©2012, Intermec IP Corp. All rights reserved. | www.vocollect.com 7
Understanding Vocollect Enterprise Connector Options, cont.
Enterprise Connector Option Summary
Consider Option if Many of These Statement are True
Issues to Be Aware of with this Enterprise Integration Option
VoiceDirect • Enables WMS vendors and
large IT shops to leverage and customize Vocollect’s “secret sauce”
• Direct interface that does not require a middleware data communications layer
• For high code reuse • Leverage best practice
optimized workflow/tasks • Optimized voice performance
results
• VoiceDirect for WMS out of the box workflow is good fit for their customers and requires minimal modification
• A real-time interface is desired • Customer doesn’t want a
middleware solution • Have “hands-on” IT capabilities • RF coverage is bad • Large number of workers with
VoiceDirect enabled tasks and workflows
• VoiceDirect for WMS requires substantial modification costs that jeopardize ROI
• VoiceDirect for WMS not applicable and customer has IT constraints
• Number of workers per workflow is small
VoiceDirect ERP for SAP • Want Vocollect Voice, done
the SAP way • Have the necessary tools,
documentation and reference examples to integrate SAP WM and SAP EWM using NetWeaver transactions
• For SAP environments needing support for multiple business processes such as: picking, put-away, cycle-counting, receiving, replenishment, transfers
• Want to leverage NetWeaver, ITS and ABAP
• Supports both standard SAP and customized SAP mobile data entry transactions
• SAP-centric solution desired
• Utilize standard SAP transactions (LM05, LM07 and LM45)
• Prefers to use SAP technology to develop workflow and business logic
• Prefers to support just like other SAP applications, while delivering the quality performance of Vocollect Voice
• Must understand SAP environment and SAP-oriented tools as a starting point for developing customer solutions
• Must be capable of leveraging ABAP code that has been written logically and optimally for Vocollect Voice using best practices default Vocollect VoiceAttributes enable best-practice voice configuration
• Recommend ECC 6.0+ or ECC 5.0+ and can also support R/3 4.7 and R/3 4.6c
• Vocollect VoiceLink WCS for use with SAP may also be an integration option, by using Intermediate DOCument middleware interface and not NetWeaver
Enterprise Connectors for Vocollect VoiceA Vocollect White Paper
©2012, Intermec IP Corp. All rights reserved. | www.vocollect.com 8
Getting StartedGetting started is easy. The first step is to start a dialogue with a Vocollect representative to discuss your business needs before trying to tackle the most applicable method for optimally integrating Vocollect Voice with your data systems.
This white paper has briefly addressed some of the key obstacles that Peerless Research identified as obstacles to implementing voice technology. In discussions with your Vocollect representative, you will gain a deeper understanding of the technical advantages and various considerations for deploying each of the Vocollect Enterprise Connector options.
For more information, visit www.vocollect.com, or call +1.412.349.2515.
In the complex supply chain industry, accuracy and productivity are of paramount importance. The proven track record of voice in driving quantifiable performance improvements has made it a natural fit for process reengineering efforts to solve key business challenges. Vocollect, a business unit of Intermec, is the number one provider of end-to-end voice solutions for mobile workers worldwide, helping customers achieve a higher level of business performance. Together with our partners, we enable over 400,000 workers at almost 2,000 companies around the globe to distribute US$4 billion in goods every day.
Vocollect Headquarters703 Rodi RoadPittsburgh, PA 15235United States
Vocollect EMEAGemini HouseMercury ParkWycombe Lane, Wooburn GreenBuckinghamshire, HP10 0HH United Kingdom
+44 (0) 1628 55 [email protected]
Vocollect Asia PacificUnit 3, 29/F, Sino Plaza, 255-257 Gloucester Road Causeway Bay Hong Kong
Hong Kong: +852 3917 7000China: +86 10 5957 2685Australia: +61 409 527 [email protected]
Vocollect Latin America
LATAM: +1.412.349.2470 Brazil: [email protected]
Vocollect JapanShiba 2-Chome Bldg 8F2-2-15 Shiba, Minato-kuTokyo 105-0014 Japan +81 (0)3 3769 [email protected]
Vocollect Singapore151 Lorong Chuan#05-02A/03 New Tech Park, Lobby CSingapore 556741 Singapore: +65 6305 2369India: +91 124480 [email protected]
Improved Accuracy. Increased Productivity. Real Business Results.
Published by Vocollect703 Rodi Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15235 +1.412.829.8145, Fax +1.412.829.0972, http://www.vocollect.com
Vocollect, Vocollect Voice, Vocollect Voice Solutions, VoiceCatalyst, VoiceConsole, VoiceDirect, VoiceDirect ERP, VoiceExpress, VoiceInterface Objects, VoiceLink, Talkman, Hands-Free, Eyes-Free and Voice-Directed Work are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Vocollect. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.